Shrek 2
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the second installment in the Shrek series, the sequel to 2001's Shrek, and features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett and Jennifer Saunders. Plot Shrek has rescued Princess Fiona, got married, and now is time to meet the parents. Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey set off to Far, Far Away to meet Fiona's mother and father. But not everyone is happy. Shrek and the King find it hard to get along, and there's tension in the marriage. It's not just the family who are unhappy. Prince Charming returns from a failed attempt at rescuing Fiona, and works alongside his mother, the Fairy Godmother, to try and find a way to get Shrek away from Fiona. Trivia While Larry King lent his voice to episodes of The Simpsons, this was the first time that he voiced a character other than himself in an animated movie or television series. This was the first sequel ever nominated for an Oscar as Best Animated Feature. The potion which Fairy Godmother gives to the King to make Fiona fall in love with the first man she kisses is labeled "IX", making the bottle "Love Potion Number 9". ("Love Potion No. 9" is a popular song.) John Cleese and Julie Andrews recorded most of their scenes together at the same time, an unusual practice for an animated film. The producers swear that when they decided to put a Sir Justin Timberlake poster above Princess Fiona's bed, they had no idea that Cameron Diaz had just started dating the singer in real life. This is the second film series starring Mike Myers in which the sequel grossed more in its first two weeks of release than the original did its entire box office run. The first was Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, which grossed more its opening weekend than Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery did altogether. A careful look at Puss-in-Boots' eyes in the famous "doe eyes" scene reveals a reflection of the RE/MAX real estate agency logo and characteristic balloon. In the scene where King Harold and Queen Lillian are in talking in their bedroom, Queen Lillian is reading a book called 'Kings are From Mars, Queens are From Venus' (an obvious nod to the real-life book 'Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus'). Shrek's human form intentionally resembles his voice actor, Mike Myers. When Shrek, Donkey and Puss are in the bar, Puss is drinking milk. There is a bottle of milk beside him with a label of a bull with curly hair. This is a deliberate caricature of Antonio Banderas who voices Puss. Box office The film opened at #1 with a Friday-to-Sunday total of $108,037,878, and a total of $128,983,060 since its Wednesday launch, from a then-record 4,163 theaters, for an average of $25,952 per theater over the weekend. At the time Shrek 2's Friday-to-Sunday total was the second-highest opening weekend trailing only Spider-Man's $114,844,116. In addition, Saturday alone managed to obtain $44,797,042, making it the highest single day gross at the time, beating Spider-Man's first Saturday gross of $43,622,264. It also ranked #1 in its second weekend, grossing $95,578,365 over the 4-day Memorial Day weekend, narrowly beating out the $85,807,341 4-day tally of new opener The Day After Tomorrow. The film spent a total of 10 weeks in the weekly top 10, and stayed in theaters for 149 days (roughly 21 weeks), closing on November 25, 2004. The film grossed $441,226,247 domestically (US and Canada), and $478,612,511 in foreign markets, making a total of $919,838,758 worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of both 2004 and in its franchise. This also puts the film at 8th on the all time domestic box office list and 24th on the worldwide box office list. The movie also took away the highest worldwide gross made by an animated feature which before held by Finding Nemo, although the latter still had a higher overseas-only gross. With DVD sales and Shrek 2 merchandise are estimated to total almost $800 million, the film (which was produced with a budget of $150 million) is DreamWorks' most profitable film to date. In August 2010, Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 3 surpassed Shrek 2 to become the highest-grossing animated film worldwide ($1.063 billion), but Shrek 2 still holds the record for the highest-grossing animated film at the American and Canadian box office as well as the highest-grossing animated PG-rated film at this box office. Disney's 3D re-releases of The Lion King (in 2011) and Finding Nemo (in 2012), respectively, surpassed Shrek 2 and relegated it as the 4th highest-grossing animated film of all time. Henry's copy Henry has the 2004 DVD of this movie from DreamWorks Home Entertainment. It has previews of Shark Tale and Madagascar. The special features on it are Far Far Away Idol, technical goofs, meet Puss in Boots, commentary, a sneak peek, games and activities, and music.